A Midsummer Night s Dream And Measure For Measure

Two of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies are A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Measure for Measure. Both plays highlight the importance of marriage in society, even if they do so in different ways. Written sometime in the late 1500s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows the story of a complex love triangle in which a forbidden relationship exists. The play reveals the importance of familial relationships in creating marriage, and shows that marriage serves a specific social function. In some ways, Shakespeare highlights that marriage is seen as more of an arrangement. This is illustrated with the political marriage between the Duke and the queen of the Amazon, Hippolyta, and the proposed marriage between Hermia and her father’s suitor, Demetrius. This mirrors the political and social environment of the time, as Queen Elizabeth I had not yet been married and there was no clear heir to the English throne. Marriage holds great importance and is one of the only oppo rtunities for women in patriarchal English society, as we see through the immense pressure put on Hermia by her father to marry a suitable man. The end of the play is resolved, however, and the marriages seem to be the fulfillment of love. In Measure for Measure, Shakespeare seems to be much more cynical about the functions of marriage. Like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this play ends with marriages, but they seem more forced, through means of deception and authority. Sexuality, desire, and power all feed into the theme ofShow MoreRelatedLove and Marriage in Renaissance Literature1228 Words   |  5 Pagescreated couple who sometimes were not allowed to love each other and above all whose main concern was not the well being of their families. Thus, Lysander and Helena (in A Midsummer Nights Dream) Romeo and Juliet, or Othello and Desdemona, married for love rather than financial conveniences and inheritances. 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